Light-emitting diode (LED) based lighting solutions provider Lumenpulse Inc. has raised $16 million in series A round of financing. The company plans to use the funds to support product development and expand into international markets.

According to Lumenpulse, this equity investment came from a select group of private investors and includes participation from the company’s management and board of directors. In addition, this financing includes a new term loan and working capital line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Founded in 2006, Lumenpulse produces a variety of LED lights, some of which can generate up to 81 lumens per Watt. According to the US Department of Energy, a typical incandescent bulb generates around 15 lumens per watt of electricity consumed.  Recently, the Department of Energy awarded Philips (News - Alert) a $10 million L prize for developing an energy-efficient LED light bulb capable of generating 90 lumens per watt of electricity consumed.

In a statement, said François-Xavier Souvay, founder, president and CEO of Lumenpulse, “The LED fixtures market is projected to triple over the next three years, reaching $9 billion by 2014 according to Strategies Unlimited.  Based on the growing worldwide opportunity for our products, we are now focused on bringing the vision of the company to life for our clients, with cutting-edge architectural LED fixtures that meet the needs of architects and lighting designers from a design, performance and a sustainability perspective. This financing allows us to invest in international market expansion ahead of plan, to further enhance our product development capabilities and to ensure our manufacturing strategies and capacity are solidly in place to meet the accelerating demand for our products.”

 Likewise, David Rodriguez, senior relationship manager with Silicon Valley Bank in Boston commented, “We’ve been impressed by Lumenpulse’s vision and growth as well as its ability to manage its trajectory, which in part seems due to its ability to recruit an experienced management team.” He added, “We look forward to continuing to support their success.”

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